Flood-fence



(Model.)

J. SNIDER.

FLOOD FENCE.

Patented Apr.Y 22, 1884.

ilrriiares A'riuvr einen.

JOHN sNiDnn, on roUNrAiNTowN, INDIAA.

FLOOD-FENCE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 297,188, dated April 22, 1884.

Application filed December 8, 1883.

To L tZZ .zu/"tom, zizi may conce/71,:

Be it known that I, JOHN SNIDER, of Foun* taintown, in the county of Shelby and Sta-te of Indiana, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Flood-Fences; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it pertains to make and use it, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, which form part of this specification.

My invention relates to an improvement in fences which is designed to be used in those places where iloods are likely to occur and carry away the fence, and it consists in the combinationv of suitable slotted posts, the wires or boards which form the panels of the `fence and which are made to pass through the slots in the post, so as to be guided vertically in their movements, suitable iioats which are attached to the lower ends of posts which are shorter than the slotted posts, and which serve to raise the panels upward upon the top of the water, and sliding frames which'are placed against the slotted posts and provided with rollers, for the purpose of enabling the panels oi' the fence to rise easily during the iiood, all of which will be more fully described hereinafter.

rIhe object of my invention is to att-ach the panels oi' the fence, whether made of boards or wires, to suitable posts which have floats secured to their lower ends, so that the rising of the water will cause the panels to rise upward and iioat upon the water, instead of being washed away in the usual manner, the panels being provided with suitable guides which are fixed in the ground, so as to prevent the panels .from having any other than a vertical movement.

Figure'l is a side elevation of a fence embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a perspective of one of the slotted posts. Fig. 3 is a perspective of one of the posts having a float attached to its lower end. Fig. 4 is a side elevation of one of the posts C.

At suitable distances apart there are firmly embedded in the ground a number of posts,A, which are provided with the slots B. These slots extend downward toward the base of the (Model. l

post any suitable distance, and the slots arev sufficiently wide to allow the wires or the boards out oi' which the fence is made to move freely up and down therein.

In between the main posts A are placedl Whether the panels of the fence are formed of wire or boards, they will be connected to suitable slides, D, which are provided with friction-rollers E, which friction rollers bear against the sides of the slotted posts A, as shown. These rollers are used for the purpose of decreasing the friction between the slides and the posts, so that the slides can rise freely with the panels of the fence. The upper one ofthe rollers in each frame has a suitable piece of iron, F, wrapped around it, ,or there may be made a suitable flange upon the side of the roller, and this roller will catch in the slot which is made in the post, and thus keep the slide in a line with the post.

At suitable distances apart the panels of the fence are secured to suitable posts, G, kin the usual'manner, and these posts Ghave suitable iioats, I-I, secured to their lower ends. These posts may either be made double, as here shown, for the purpose of making them light and strong as possible, or they may be formed of but a single piece. The panels of the fence are rigidly secured to these posts provided with floats; but they simply pass through the slots made in the slotted posts without being secured to them. When the water rises around the fence, the iioats secured to the lower ends of the posts rise upward with the water, and the rising of these posts and the frames provided with rollers causes the panels of the fence to rise with them. The slotted posts serve as guides to cause the panels to rise vertically upward, and prevent the panels of the fence from being washed away. At suitable distances apart posts provided with rollers upon their upper ends may be placed, and over these rollers weighted wires or ropes will be passed, the lower ends of the ropes or wires being fastened to the top of the fence.

IOC

The Weights will assist in raising` the fence floats secured to their lower ends, substan- When it begins to rise upon the top of the tially as described. Io water. In testimony whereof I affix my signature in I-Iaving thus described my invention, I presence of two Witnesses. 5 clain1- JOHN SNIDER.

In a, fence, the Combination of the slotted Wtnesses: posts, the panels of the fence, the slides pro- JAMES E. SMITH,

vided with rollers, and the posts which have i FRANoIs `\T. AYnRs. 

